As the New England Patriots enter their divisional-round battle with the Houston Texans as heavy favorites, they can look back favorably on late-April 2010.

This is not to say the Patriots wouldn't remain in Super Bowl contention today without pulling off the greatest receiving-tight end haul in NFL history, but the matchups Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez present Houston helps explain how the Texans can win 13 of 17 games, reach the second step away from the Super Bowl, yet still enter their playoff contest as double-digit underdogs.

These tight ends enlivened the post-Randy Moss Patriots offense and more recently provided another infusion after finally hitting the field together following a season wrought with injury. In the Week 17 destruction of near-.500 Dolphins squad, Gronkowski returned from a broken arm to catch a touchdown, Hernandez tacked on five grabs and New England won 28-0.

Between Gronk's arm and Hernandez's ankle, the two have missed 11 games combined this season after totaling 205 catches the year prior. Yet the Patriots still won 12 games, including the throttling of Houston, which was without Gronkowski.

With such an integral component of the offense back on the field and healthy in tandem, Tom Brady just became more dangerous.

The Bengals seemed eager to exploit the middle of the field and the Texans' linebacking corps—hobbled by injury this season including the crucial loss of Brian Cushing to injured reserve—by targeting their own big, athletic tight end heavily in the wild-card round. However, Andy Dalton's seven targets to the 6-6 Jermaine Greshman yielded only two catches.

New England will hope to have better luck with Brady, Hernandez and Gronkowski.